


Five Times Tom Paris Hit on Harry Kim, and One Time He Didn't

by ShayneyL



Series: Falling [1]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Episode: s01e01 Caretaker, Episode: s01e09 Emanations, Episode: s02e05 Non Sequitur, Episode: s02e20 Investigations, Episode: s02e21 Deadlock, Episode: s03e03 The Chute, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-01 19:18:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20263195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShayneyL/pseuds/ShayneyL
Summary: Tom is a flirt who hits on everyone.  Harry can't take him seriously...can he?





	1. Caretaker

**Author's Note:**

> Writer's Month 2019, Day 15. The prompt is "first time."

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ: *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

"Didn't they warn you about Ferengi at the Academy?"

The handsome blond crewman was teasing him, Harry realized. He laughed. 

"I'm Tom," the man said. 

"Harry Kim."

"Look," Tom said. "I have a room in the guest quarters section." His voice dropped suggestively. "There's a great view of the wormhole."

Harry was naive, but not that naive. Tom was hitting on him. He was amazed that a guy like Tom would be interested in him, and not a little intrigued, but he couldn't accept. "I don't think..."

"I'm not a crewman," Tom said, apparently thinking it was fraternization concerns that made Harry hesitate. "I used to be a lieutenant, but now I'm a civilian observer."

Interesting. Harry hadn't realized civilians were allowed to wear uniforms. But that wasn't the issue. "Sorry, Tom. I'm beyond flattered. But I don't think my girlfriend would approve."

"Ah," Tom said. "A homeworld honey. I should have known."

Harry wasn't sure what Tom meant by that, but he didn't have a chance to wonder about it. 

"What ship are you headed to?" Tom asked.

"_Voyager_," Harry said proudly. He knew he was lucky to have this assignment, right out of the Academy.

Tom grinned. "Looks like we'll be seeing more of each other."


	2. Emanations

The Doctor insisted that Harry stay in sickbay for a couple of days. He was sleeping, when he became aware that someone was holding his hand. Squeezing it. And...kissing it?

He opened his eyes and saw it was Tom. Tom without his usual smirk. He looked...downright tender. Then he saw Harry was awake, and the smirk was back. 

"Good thing you came back," Tom said. "We were about to leave without you." He kissed Harry's hand again, an exaggerated smack. 

"You would have had to find someone else to hustle at pool," Harry said. He had come to realize that Tom didn't really mean anything with his over the top flirting. He didn't seem to know how else to engage with people.

"I could show you how much I would have missed you," Tom said, in that breathy voice he used when he was trying to be seductive. He brushed his lips over the back of Harry's hand.

"As long it's a way Libby would approve of."

"Libby, still? Harry, she's probably already got another boyfriend. Let her go. You don't want her waiting for you for 75 years, do you?"

No, he didn't want that. But he still hoped they'd get home much sooner than that. "It's not going to be 75 years," he said stubbornly.

"Harry Kim, the Penelope of the Delta Quadrant."


	3. Non Sequitur

Harry was sitting in a dark corner of Sandrine's, drinking real alcohol and brooding. Libby wasn't waiting for him. He had to accept that now. The crew of _Voyager_ had been declared dead months ago. Even if he got home tomorrow...it was probably too late. She would have moved on by now. A woman as beautiful and sweet she was wouldn't be alone for long, and he didn't want her to be. And yet...

Someone dropped into the seat beside him. Tom Paris. "So, Har," he said. "What did you mean, when you said you owed me one?"

"I'm not sure I should tell you," Harry said. Did the temporal prime directive apply? Probably not, he decided. He hadn't traveled through time, he'd jumped timelines. That other timeline was gone, and there was no way to get back to it, even if he'd wanted to. And he didn't really want to...did he?

"Come on, Harry, don't be a tease."

Harry took another sip of his drink. Tom had a point. If he didn't want to explain, he should never have said anything in the first place. And, near as he could tell, there was no regulation saying he couldn't tell people what happened in the dead timeline. The captain hadn't said he couldn't talk about it, when she'd debriefed him in her ready room after his return. But...would it be kind to tell Tom what he was like in that other universe?

"I got thrown into another timeline," Harry said, still not sure how much he should say. "An alternate universe."

Tom's brows rose. "Was it that place where everyone's evil? Though I guess that means I'd be a good guy over there."

"No," Harry said, smiling. "No one was evil. Everyone was the same as they were here. Including you. You...gave up your life to get me back here." 

"I...what?"

"I came to you for help getting back where I belonged, and you came through. As you always do."

"What happened?"

"We had to fly a prototype runabout into a timestream. You did it, then threw me into the transporter and beamed me back...here. I didn't want to leave. I was going to stay, to shut down the warp core before it breached, but we were running out of time, and..." Harry couldn't finish. He was still horrified by what happened. Even though it had turned out as the other Tom predicted. 

"Harry, it's all right. I'm here, you're here, this is how it's supposed to be."

"That's what he said. You said. 'Things will be changed back to the way they're supposed to be, and you'll find me back on _Voyager_." 

They looked at each other. Tom looked amazed and genuinely happy in a way he rarely did. 

The moment was all too brief. "Hey, Harry, if you really want to pay me back..." Tom's hand dropped down onto Harry's thigh. 

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm grateful, Tom, but not _that_ grateful."


	4. Investigations

Harry signaled at Tom's door, cargo containers hanging from either shoulder and two crates in his arms. He couldn't see very well around them, but he heard the door open and walked toward it.

"What is all that?" Tom asked, jumping out of the way. 

Harry put everything down, as carefully as he could. "It's your stuff."

"My stuff?"

"All the things you left behind. Clothes, mementos, decor. Tuvok wanted to recycle it, but I insisted that we pack it up and put it in storage."

"You knew I'd be back?" Tom asked. He lifted the top off one box, looking at the clothing folded neatly inside. 

"I hoped," Harry said. "I'm really glad you're back, Tom."

"I'm glad to be back." He lifted a uniform out of the box. He'd definitely be needing that again.

"I'll transfer the replicator rations you gave me back into your account," Harry said. Tom had gifted Harry with all his replicator rations when he left. There had been a lot, with the betting pools and all. 

"I'm disappointed, Harry. I meant for you to throw a wake in my honor with those."

"Aren't wakes for dead people?"

"Ah, yes. A minor quibble."

Tom had expected to die, Harry realized. He accepted the mission, not expecting to live through it. 

"Tom..." Harry didn't know what to say. _Thank you for saving Voyager_ seemed entirely inadequate. _You are the hero your family wanted you to be, whether they know it or not _was too pompous. 

The moment passed. "You wanna keep the rations?" Tom asked. He waggled his brows suggestively. "We could take it out in trade."

Harry sighed. Same old Tom. 


	5. Deadlock

Harry wandered around his quarters, examining everything with a critical eye. Everything was the same. Exactly the same. No reason it shouldn't be. The two _Voyagers_ were identical, differing only when they split for a couple of crucial hours. 

The door signal chimed. "Come," Harry said. The computer recognized his voice, and opened the door. It was Tom. He rushed in, and threw his arms around Harry, and kissed him. Harry was so startled it was a long moment before he disengaged and pushed Tom away. 

"Harry, you have to quit dying. It's killing me."

"Sorry," Harry said. "You died, too, on the other _Voyager_." He'd seen Tom's corpse, being harvested by the Vidiians.

"Come on," Tom said. He leaned close, his lips almost brushing Harry's ear. "Anything could happen out here. To you or me. Tomorrow might be too late. You're not still waiting for Libby, are you?"

Harry pulled away. "No," he answered. He realized after being thrown into that alternate timeline that Libby thought he was dead, and would not be waiting for him. He also realized that he didn't love her as much as he thought, since he'd chosen to come back to _Voyager_ rather than staying with her. _Voyager_...and Tom.

"Do you not like men?" Tom asked. 

Harry felt himself blushing. 

"So you do like men," Tom said, a triumphant gleam in his eye. "How many male lovers have you had?"

Harry blushed harder. 

"None," Tom guessed, correctly. "Oh, Harry, let me be the one to break you in. I'll be gentle, I promise." 

"No," Harry said, kindly but firmly. 

"Why not? You don't find me attractive?"

"That's not the problem." That was most definitelynot the problem. Tom was very attractive. He knew it. The whole crew knew it. But... "It's just that...well, I wanted my first time, at least, to be with...."

"A woman?"

"No," Harry said, surprised. Tom really thought he was _that_ innocent? He was nowhere near as experienced as Tom, but he and Libby had not exactly been celibate. "With someone who loves me." 

"Harry, I do love you," Tom said. 

"You say that to all the boys. All the girls, too."

"How can you say that?"

"Easily. I've seen you in action."

"You wound me, Harry," Tom said, but he gave up the seduction. For now. Given his past record, Harry was confident that Tom would make further attempts. He just hoped he could resist. He didn't want to end up another notch on Tom Paris' bedpost.


	6. The Chute

They were both a little drunk, celebrating their escape from Akritiri with too much food and too much beer. They each had a week's worth of unused replicator rations, and three days off to recover from the ordeal. They could afford the indulgence. 

Steak, fried oysters, baked potatoes, salad, onion rings, creamed spinach, Risan beans, grilled mushrooms. And cherry pie and fudge ripple pudding for dessert. It had been years since Harry had had a meal like this. It would have been nothing special back on Earth, but was an incredible splurge here in the Delta Quadrant. He would have enjoyed it more if not for the burden of what happened in that alien prison. Tom had apparently forgiven him, but Harry wasn't sure he could forgive himself. 

"Here, have another fried oyster," Tom said. He grinned lasciviously. "They're supposed to be aphrodisiacs, you know."

"No, thanks," Harry said. Suddenly, his appetite was gone. 

Tom noticed he had stopped eating. "You're slowing down, Harry. We have a week's worth of food to catch up on." 

"Guess my stomach shrunk."

Tom sensed something was wrong. "Harry...I was only joking about the oyster. You know I don't mean anything by it."

"I know." He didn't look up from his plate, which was still half full. 

"Harry, what's wrong? You know you're not responsible for anything you did in that damned prison."

Harry shook his head. He still didn't look up.

"Harry..." The wheels were turning in Tom's head. "Were you..." Tom swallowed. "Raped?"

Harry froze. How did Tom know? Could he tell? "No," Harry answered, finally looking up. "I did it willingly. It was the only way to get food, and water, and bandages. Zio didn't want my boots."

"Harry..." He looked so stricken Harry would do anything to take that expression off his face. 

"I don't regret it," Harry said. And he didn't. "It saved your...our lives. It was worth it. I just wish..."

"What?"

"I wish I had said yes, before...let you...I mean, at least it would have been with someone who liked me."

"Oh, Harry." Tom's arms came around him, a very gentle embrace. 

If Tom asked him tonight, Harry knew he wouldn't be able to say no. Didn't want to say no.

But Tom didn't ask.


End file.
